About Gay Bombay

The story of Gay Bombay, is more like the
story of the calf that, one fine day, thought of leaving the beaten
path that others followed, and started treading on a land no one had
stepped on before. As years passed by, that same trail left by this
cow is now an artery road passing through the heart of a
metropolitan city.

If
you have visited this site for the first time, it means you have just stepped
into a little space on the web called Gaybombay. Namaskar! Welcome!

Gaybombay is a self-evolving informal group, a product of like-minded
gay people from Mumbai (mainly, but not totally) coming together in good
faith to create a safe space for men who are romantically and sexually
attracted to men. All of us at Gaybombay have experienced the joys and
sorrows of being 'different'. We wanted to make things a little easier
for those who have come after us. So we created this space where gays
can:

Our aim is to make you (and eventually your family and friends) comfortable
with your sexuality, and make life a bit easier.

Being gay is never easy. First there is the feeling that makes you happy.
Then the realization that not everyone around shares this feeling. In
fact, many consider it to be abnormal, vile, even sinful. There is the
struggle to accept the feeling as perfectly normal. Then comes the frustration
when you cannot share it with your family and friends. You fear humiliation,
condemnation and ultimately, rejection. You desperately need to talk,
share, and feel that you are not alone.

We understand these feelings. Hence we created this 'safe space'. Safe
space does not mean you are free to do what you wish. It is space where:

You discover there is more to being gay than casual sex and solicitation.

You don't wear a chastity belt, but you are definitely discouraged
from wearing a thong or a tutu

The intellectual and emotional aspects of gay life get preference
over things carnal

You find the strength to secure all the wonderful things life has
in store for you

We do not encourage postings aimed at soliciting sex because we believe
there are many other sites where this can be done.

If you would like to know how we came into being, read on .Gaybombay
began purely as a cyber venture in 1998. Then moved on to a few offline
activities like fortnightly meets, movie-nights, and parties. Initially
we used personal funds for these activities. Later, we sought to make
some ventures self-sustaining by asking beneficiaries to pay. Those who
wished to help absorbed the initial losses. Later, the profits were used
to pay back those who had made available the initial capital (most were
written off in a spirit of camaraderie). The profit is now being used
to fund non-revenue generating online and offline activities.

In the pre-Gaybombay days, we realized there were many young men who
were gay but felt out of place in the gay cultures they stumbled upon.
Some groups focused addressed only sexual needs through solicitation and
discussion of sexual conquests. Others saw being gay as an immensely enjoyable
'side-activity' to an otherwise heterosexual existence. Still others equated
being gay with cross-dressing, and being effeminate. And then there were
those for whom being gay meant activism, politics and the law. Many young
men not belonging to any of these schools of thought, went into their
shell feeling frustrated, alone and miserable. We chose to address these
young men by creating a group that was different. Since the venture was
mainly web-based, most of those who participated in the activities belonged
to a certain segment of society - this was not intentional. To address
the non-web-based community, a personal interaction venture, "The
Sunday Meets' was initiated. And now over three years we have successfully
created a 'safe space'.

There is nothing 'official' about the group. There never was, and there
still isn't a membership form, registration fee, annual general meetings,
minutes of meetings and voting or veto. Everyone is free to participate.
In fact, participation is encouraged, as the group has to evolve in order
to survive.

The group organizes GB events to facilitate offline interaction between
members. What is a GB event? Events that respect GB values of safe space,
of not promoting sex and solicitation, of not being too political, of
respecting the wishes of those who participate in, contribute to and spearhead
decision making processes [the informal core-group]. It is also an activity
where profits, if any, are used to support non-revenue generating GB-ventures.